Hot pressing is a technique for consolidating powder into a dense shape by the simultaneous application of pressure and heat. The powder can be placed into a hot press die for shaping to eliminate a cutting or machining process. Hot pressing may be used for fabrication of ceramics, hard alloy, powder metallurgy, and so on. Hot pressing can also be used in fabrication of multilayer ceramic products, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). However, improvement of hot pressed articles and methods of forming is desired by the industry.
Skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.